Here Are What Kind of Ghosts to Expect in the New Ghostbusters

We’ll see a bunch of different kinds of ghosts in the movie, but the early focus will be on dead human ghosts. Paul says this is because he is such a science nut and wanted the ghosts “to be what I always considered a ghost to be, which is dead.”

And so even though we play with that and there’s other types of ghosts in it and we have fun with sort of what comes up, I wanted the main ghost to be basically humanoid but again, you’re gonna get every kind. But especially from the early interactions with the Ghostbusters and the supernatural.

Another reason for this is because it gives the actors something real to act against.

It also comes from me wanting to on the set, I don’t want my actors acting with tennis balls as they do in some of these CGI movies. And so like Beth Strauss who plays the first ghost, she filmed in this LED suit with that dress with these LEDs and it’s kind of a thing that kind of picked her up and whooshed her forward and then with our CGI team, we go in and then play with that look.

Feig also teases that we’ll be seeing “ghost imagery that I don’t think has really been done before.”

It’s really scientifically based. On the science of ghosts. But just the idea of sort of exactly how the auras come off of them, the particulates that are coming off and how much of it is dissolving in air and in the real world… So we play with that a lot. But you’re gonna see all types of ghosts. But it was really important to have that sort of real ghost quality to them.

While Slimer might appear again in this film, they are hoping to introduce some new ghosts to the Ghostbusters universe. And Ivan Retiman notes that they never expected Slimer to become iconic.

When Dan Aykroyd did the very first treatment of [Ghostbusters], this prior to me, he thought it was gonna be a vehicle for [John] Belushi and himself. And Belushi passed away while we were working on this draft. We just sort of humorously referred to him as this Belushi ghost. And at that point we didn’t know what that meant, but we know he was gonna eat a lot. And but we never thought Slimer was gonna continue in like an iconographic character that would stick with Ghostbusters. But we also didn’t expect the success that we had. So the fact that here we are talking about Slimer and being happy that he’s in the new movie is kind of a wonderful surprise. And I’m sure there’s gonna be characters like that, but none of us is thinking about that. Ghosts in this version of it will hopefully have the same kind of staying power.

As for future movies, Paul mentioned that any of the ghosts that appear in this film “can always reappear.”

What Other Homages to the Original Ghostbusters Films Can We Expect?

Slimer appears in the trailer, and Feig says he “makes a quick appearance” in the film “because you can’t do Ghostbusters without Slimer.” The trailer also reveals the old Ghostbusters HQ firehouse, which is possibly in the film, and of course new versions of proton packs and the ECTO-1. Feig says the film has more, but he’s trying to keep some of it under wraps for now.

I don’t wanna give some away because we do it in a fun way. But it’s just you know the icon, you know the things that you love in this. Let’s just say most of them show up in one way or another. But again, with in a way that hopefully you’ll be surprised and when you’re not expecting it.

While the movie pays some homage to the previous films, it’s trying to do something new as well. Dippold said:

It was very important to both of us to make sure it captured the heart of what we loved so much about the original. And that was the most important thing. Then it was important of Paul to still bring something new.”

Added Feig:

Katie was very much like I’m gonna be bummed if I didn’t see that… So we wanted to make sure that we did those nods but then we kind of make them our own. Give them their own original origin story. And then kind of play with that. So you’ll see, when you see the movie there’s a lot of things that you’ll be happy you see that are coming at you in a slightly different way.

As for the new hardware, it got a loud cheer from the Ghostbusters fans that packed the theater for the event. Feig acknowledged it saying “I love that you guys gave me hardware,” admitting, “I’m such a hardware nut. It’s so cool.” As for how to avoid a cheesy reference to the originals, Ivan Reitman says it was his job to make sure they didn’t do that.

This was really their vision. And I thought it was my job really to just warn them when I thought they were going over the line one way or the other. Which is just to do something that I thought would be insulting to the original film. They did not do, but it was my job to make sure.

Yes, Some of the Comedy Was Improvised

Like the original Ghostbusters, the comedy actors were able to play with the script during filming. Ivan Reitman notes that Harold Ramis “used to say the last draft of the script is written on the set.” Screenwriter Katie Dippold was on set for every day of filming, and says it was a true collaboration.

Well, fortunately they’re all amazing improvisers. As a writer, you can feel very good that you did as good a job as possible. And so I feel there’s also like an energy like they would say something on set and then me and Paul would see what direction they’re going in with their collaboration like even in the scene. You know, like and we’ll try something. And like Melissa will throw something out there and ultimately find direction. So then we’ll throw in an alternate joke. And then Paul would pitch jokes. And this is all happening in the moment.

Feig adds that while they filmed Katie would always scribbling new jokes onto post-it notes during the scenes.

So as I’m at the monitor doing stuff like post-it notes are getting handed to me. I’m like that’s funny. Say this, say that. And it is it’s a real free for all, but that’s what’s so great is you build this energy in the moment because we feel that the script is great going in, but again, it’s just a blueprint. Even though it’s funny. If everything fell apart that day, you’d still have that. But it’s in those moments, that’s when the magic happens. And as Ivan knows making comedies is all about capturing lightning in a bottle. You want things to happen for the first time ’cause that’s the funny scene in there. […] Whenever we can, we always try to shoot all people at the same time so when they surprise somebody else it’s on screen for the first time. There’s nothing worse than shooting one direction, somebody knocks out the funniest joke ever behind the camera. You’re like can you do that again? And it’s just never the same. So it’s we just always try to capture that.

Katie thinks the director’s relationship with the cast also improved many of the scenes.

You and Melissa tend to have a shorthand that’s really magical to watch. And I had to imagine that was how it was with you guys in the original.

Ivan Reitman admits that having had worked with Bill and Harold on previous projects helped “create freshness in the moments” of the original Ghostbusters.

No, the Marketing Won’t Address the Woman Ghostbusters Controversy

And finally, a fan in the audience asked if the marketing will address the controversy about them rebooting the franchise with women. Paul Feig was very quick to give the blunt response: “No.”

Really the first movie worked because of the cast of the funniest people… Honestly I just wanted the funniest people and the funniest people I happen to know are these women. And yeah, so… it should never be about that. … Ghostbusters are for everybody.